Scranton has to trim it's capital projects from th budget. (Wilkes-Barre: middle-class, apartments)

[W-B proud]

Scranton had to trim some of it's major projects from it's budget, with long term debt over 93 million dollars the city must have figured it's time to slow down on the spending. Two of the main projects to be tossed out were The Medical School (downtown campus), and the proposed 18 million dollar "Taj Mahal of all Libraries" planned for South Side (which I think is ridiculous for a small city like Scranton) seriously, I would think this library idea was way to expensive and fancy if it was proposed for Manhatten even! Who needs an 18 million dollar library these days, when most people have internet access from thier own homes! Anyway what are your feelings on the city deciding to cut back on capital projects like this?

[weluvpa]

These are the first indications that Doherty has gone too far.....

He approached the county to raise the library tax to help fund the new library in Southside (We don't need it) and the commissioners told him to hit the bricks walking.

HIS council majority ( specifically Gatelli) said that they would NOT VOTE FOR MORE SPENDING and he has holes in his budget this year that needed to be plugged with more loans that I don't think he is going to get it.

He has drained the city of its reserve funds and buried us in decades of debt, so he has no choice but to make cuts somewhere because lets remember he is running again.

The Medical School is well lets say a questionable project that in my mind should be funded by the fed or state if at all, but the city cannot afford a dime to give to this deal. Again I feel the Med school was created as a political windfall, a project that could pushed and used as a "look what we are doing in SCranton" item to push votes. Right now its still a lets see where they go. Remember they have not really committed to anything yet in Scranton and honestly until its built and the students are walking the campus I don't think it will come. We just cannot afford it and I doubt that its going to be the financial windfall they claim.

Remember the age old statement......"If it sounds to good to be true then it must be"

That rings true in a city whose finances are a disaster at best and only getting worse.

[versaron]

nice to hear the library feel thru. Their obsolete. Well they have their advantages in doing local research and introducing kids to books and to those old timers who aren't tech savy but that's pretty much it. a library is good in ways but a 12 million dollar one is outrageous especially in a city in financial stress.

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by W-B proud

Two of the main projects to be tossed out were The Medical School (downtown campus)

You are wrong (http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/08/16/news/sc_times_trib.20080816.a.pg3.tt16budget_s1.1881080 _top4.txt - broken link).

Absent from the budget are a few undertakings that could be considered “capital projects” by definition, namely a medical school planned for downtown and a new library for South Scranton.

Mr. Doherty said he views the capital budget purely for infrastructure, while those big-ticket projects are under redevelopment and will be funded through other channels.

[SteelCityRising]

In response to news that the city is withdrawing its plans to offer fiduciary support to the proposed Commonwealth Medical College, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania announced that they are now donating an additional $45,000,000 to the project. Much to Dan's chagrin, the medical college IS going to materialize. As far as the South Side Library is concerned, I think it was indeed wise to cut it out of capital projects funding until the city is more fiscally solvent.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ScranBarre

In response to news that the city is withdrawing its plans to offer fiduciary support to the proposed Commonwealth Medical College, Blue Cross of Northeastern Pennsylvania announced that they are now donating an additional $45,000,000 to the project. Much to Dan's chagrin, the medical college IS going to materialize. As far as the South Side Library is concerned, I think it was indeed wise to cut it out of capital projects funding until the city is more fiscally solvent.

Its ridiculous how Blue Cross has millions of dollars to throw around, yet health insurance premiums keep going through the roof. Screw the regular working people and families who are struggling with high healthcare costs and the price of everything going up, the rich people give away our money to each other to make each other richer while everyone else gets poorer.

We need major changes in healthcare....there is no way that corporations, who are only concerned with their bottom line, should have our lives in their hands.

[SteelCityRising]

I'm not saying that I agree with the decision, as I too worry about whether or not I'll be able to find affordable health insurance for myself, my partner, and future adopted children, but I just wanted to make Dan twitch a little bit because it seems like he and most others in Scranton want to see the medical college crash and burn.

[weluvpa]

Its funny that the residents of the city that the school is going into don't want it here. WHY? May I ask.....

Because from the beginning the city has been getting too involved in a PRIVATE school. We do not have the resources and we should not donate anything but we will you watch and see.

Its bad enough that they forced the residenst out of Washington Plaza after the "no firewall" scam and now they are trying displace the residents of Mid-town apartments for this school. They were planning on giving or selling the Albright library to the school to use as the med school library. The building was deeded in trust to always be used for a public library so by allowing the public access like Da U does they would get the building.

Thats why they were pushing for the new library..............

Don't you think that the residents of this city have already given enough to the Doherty Admin? This school will not be a financial windfall, the students will hit the bricks running as soon as they are done JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER STUDENT IN THE AREA.

[SteelCityRising]

One thing I concur with you on, Dan, is that it is a travesty how the Doherty Administration is apparently trying to "cleanse" the downtown of its lower-income individuals. I'm by no means a Richard Florida, but my vision of a restored Downtown Scranton includes many more housing units, including those designed to house all sorts of socioeconomic backgrounds, not just yuppies. The best way to reinvigorate an ailing downtown is to encourage people to live there. The broader the socioeconomic spectrum you have the broader the opportunities there are to open up new businesses. The artists moving to the lofts atop the Renaissance at 500 may demand stationery stores to buy art supplies. The young professionals expected to move into the Connell Building may help to provide a boon to Northern Light, Brixx, Martini, and other yuppie-oriented establishments as well as demanding other upper-middle-class services. Encouraging the renovation and EXPANSION of Florence/Midtown and Washington Plaza would encourage the development of a nice dollar store downtown, a convenience store, etc.---places that those in the other socioeconomic groups would frequent as well.

I think Doherty is foolish if he thinks he's doing the city a favor by hoping to transplant all of the less-fortunate people out of downtown. A city can become vibrant despite having a lot of riff raff around. Just look at Downtown Wilkes-Barre. I was just there today shopping at Barnes & Noble and to stop at M&T Bank, and the sidewalks were beautifully diverse with people talking to themselves, business executives yammering into cell phones, clueless-looking tourists running around, little old ladies carrying Boscov's bags, African-American males staring at me for no particular reason, what I assumed to be a fellow gay male checking me out, etc. Wilkes-Barre is a prime example of how you can have a lot of diverse foot traffic and still have a downtown on the rise. Scranton, from all of my visits, has a comparable amount of foot traffic downtown, but it mostly consists of middle-class white-collar Caucasian people from the 'burbs. Downtown Scranton can truly take off if more diversity in culture and economic statuses is encouraged. I don't like how Mayor Doherty seems to be hedging towards turning Downtown into a "TriBeCa" of sorts.

[to570717]

The school will greatly increase the resources at the local hospitals. it will also attract better doctors to the area who are "teaching" doctors. from a healthcare point of view it will be positive addidtion.